:00:09. > :00:16.Storm Gertrude has blown in with full purse and it has been wild and
:00:17. > :00:23.windy up here today, but rest assured, I have control of my
:00:24. > :00:26.elementary tracked and we have been braving the great outdoors. We have
:00:27. > :00:29.an incredible insight into one of the largest birds in the UK and one
:00:30. > :00:36.of the smallest. And will our resident rodents sold the final
:00:37. > :00:41.challenge in the -- mouse maze. Batten down the hatches, get a cup
:00:42. > :01:00.of hot chocolate and pipe and slippers because it is Winterwatch!
:01:01. > :01:10.Hello and welcome to Winterwatch, or should I say windy watch, 2016. It
:01:11. > :01:14.is the last of our programmes coming from the Cairngorms National Park.
:01:15. > :01:18.We have had a fabulous week and we have seen some exciting things, a
:01:19. > :01:23.few revelations and lots of nice new science and some fantastic animals.
:01:24. > :01:28.I have to put in, it is good to have you back, we missed you last night,
:01:29. > :01:36.for Chris wasn't very well. I am sure you want to go, I just couldn't
:01:37. > :01:42.stop vomiting. I saved everything I ingested last night and gave it some
:01:43. > :01:45.rudimentary analysis and you can see the percentage of carrot and
:01:46. > :01:49.sweetcorn but most of it was cheese from 1967 which I found in the large
:01:50. > :01:55.fridge. Too much information, but glad you are better. As I was
:01:56. > :02:00.ricocheting between the bathroom and the toilet, the cameras carried on
:02:01. > :02:04.rolling as Storm Gertrude came into Scotland and this is it, this is
:02:05. > :02:08.Gerty getting shirty. That is the pine marten camera and you can see
:02:09. > :02:12.that no pine marten would be mad enough to come out in weather like
:02:13. > :02:17.that. The some strange reason, a squirrel was tempted by the nuts we
:02:18. > :02:25.left out, thinking it could keep dry with his fluffy tale. One animal
:02:26. > :02:27.that wasn't bothered was the mountain hare, an animal truly used
:02:28. > :02:32.to living in the mountains in conditions like that, having a
:02:33. > :02:36.wonderful time. That was last night, what did we wake up to this morning?
:02:37. > :02:41.The storm continued and the rain continued and in some places it
:02:42. > :02:46.snowed, and in some places there were floods, but the main thing was
:02:47. > :02:52.the wind, at the top of the Cairngorms, wind speeds of up to 144
:02:53. > :02:57.mph. The weather really was hectic. All of the Hardy animals were still
:02:58. > :02:59.out and about, they have no choice but they really did have to cope
:03:00. > :03:05.with extreme weather conditions and they have been carrying on on and
:03:06. > :03:12.off all day. And we have live cameras out and about on the estate.
:03:13. > :03:17.Happily, they have survived the deluge and we can go live to our
:03:18. > :03:22.carcass cam right now. There is the carcass on the right-hand side of
:03:23. > :03:25.the frame, nothing there, all tucked away in the nooks and crannies of
:03:26. > :03:30.the forest but we have noticed something very interesting with the
:03:31. > :03:36.carcass cam. That is jay. It shouldn't make that sound, it is
:03:37. > :03:44.practising deception, calling like a buzzard. The jay is mimicking the
:03:45. > :03:48.call of the buzzard and it is doing it to practice deception to make
:03:49. > :03:54.sure all of the other animals in the area think a buzzard is there, a
:03:55. > :03:58.bird of prey, and stay away, so the jay has the entire carcass all to
:03:59. > :04:06.itself. Look at that crappy bird, it has done it. We know this occurs in
:04:07. > :04:09.other species of jay, in North America they practised the same
:04:10. > :04:14.thing and when I saw it, I thought it could be potentially be the first
:04:15. > :04:19.time it had been recorded by the Eurasian jay, but research showed it
:04:20. > :04:23.was first done in 2013, so we were just pipped to it. One could say it
:04:24. > :04:28.is one of the world's sneakiest animals. We haven't just had live
:04:29. > :04:33.cameras filming, all of the camera crews have been out and have been
:04:34. > :04:36.enjoying fabulous views of the red squirrels on the state. These little
:04:37. > :04:40.guys are pretty well-equipped for the winter. They spent the autumn
:04:41. > :04:46.burying nuts, they have a good stash, plenty to eat. Up here in the
:04:47. > :04:51.Cairngorms, they can supplement their diet with pine cones and they
:04:52. > :04:55.have already started to court. It is the female that runs up the tree
:04:56. > :04:59.first and she emits a paramount and that attracts the male, who chases
:05:00. > :05:04.her round and round and up and down -- emits a pheromone. Sometimes it
:05:05. > :05:08.is more than one male. It is something you may have seen with
:05:09. > :05:12.grey squirrels in parks and gardens at home. So life is pretty good
:05:13. > :05:17.until it gets really windy and they slowly get blown off the bird table.
:05:18. > :05:21.I love that! If you have been following Winterwatch this year, we
:05:22. > :05:26.have been testing the ability of mice and other small rodents to
:05:27. > :05:29.negotiate mazes. We can go live to the updated mouse maze, it has
:05:30. > :05:36.become incredibly complicated and we will find out just how successful
:05:37. > :05:39.mice were in negotiating that later in the programme. Don't forget, you
:05:40. > :05:43.can follow all the latest information and some exclusive clips
:05:44. > :05:47.if you go onto the website. All of this week, we have had a bit of an
:05:48. > :05:51.eagle fest. At the beginning of the week, we were lucky enough to have
:05:52. > :05:55.two live eagles on the programme and looked at the differences between
:05:56. > :05:59.them but we wanted to contrast their flight patterns and their hunting
:06:00. > :06:03.styles, so earlier on, I went out with a couple of live birds and we
:06:04. > :06:08.did these animals to do some of the filming for us.
:06:09. > :06:13.All birds are equal, but some birds are more equal than others. In front
:06:14. > :06:18.of me here we have got a golden eagle. It is an impressive bird,
:06:19. > :06:22.there is no doubt of that. But over here, we have something even bigger.
:06:23. > :06:29.This is the white tailed sea eagle. What we want to do is fly these two
:06:30. > :06:33.so we can contrast their hunting styles and ultimately find out how
:06:34. > :06:36.they can coexist in the same place at the same time by feeding on
:06:37. > :06:40.different species. It is going to be quite a day.
:06:41. > :06:47.Both eagles are trained to fly with cameras. And we are fitting them
:06:48. > :06:51.with tiny GPS transmitters. Then we are going to release them high in
:06:52. > :06:59.the Cairngorms, where we can observe their hunting techniques. Digital
:07:00. > :07:01.tracking expert Steve Lee has a tablet receiving information
:07:02. > :07:09.directly from the Eagles' transmitters. It is the stuff a
:07:10. > :07:15.biologist dreams are made of. We will be seeing the data live as it
:07:16. > :07:19.is happening. And recorded at the real speed of the bird, direction,
:07:20. > :07:26.height and exactly where it is on the planet. The full works. What a
:07:27. > :07:28.piece of kit, the best thing to do is get them in the air. Let's
:07:29. > :07:29.piece of kit, the best thing to do unleash the eagle. First off, the
:07:30. > :07:39.golden eagle. unleash the eagle. First off, the
:07:40. > :07:48.above us. So we have a speed out of 27 mph, so motoring.
:07:49. > :07:52.beat, just backing out, flaring the tale, you can see the tail
:07:53. > :07:58.beat, just backing out, flaring the to turn it. Classic golden eagle.
:07:59. > :08:03.beat, just backing out, flaring the have got 910 feet. So it is going
:08:04. > :08:10.up. Looking at the map, we have some perfect Circle is going on. Oh,
:08:11. > :08:16.yeah, look at that. These birds are all about gliding. They don't want
:08:17. > :08:22.to be flapping their wings. Birds don't survive by using up energy if
:08:23. > :08:25.they don't need to. You don't need to be spectacular to survive, you
:08:26. > :08:29.need to be effective and that is what it is doing. At this time of
:08:30. > :08:37.year, golden eagles can survive on carrion. But they specialise in
:08:38. > :08:43.hunting fast, agile prey, like hares and grouse. To measure the speed of
:08:44. > :08:50.his stoop, we call in the eagle. -- swoop.
:08:51. > :09:04.He is 600 feet above us. 37 mph. He is speeding up. 40 mph. 42, 40 five.
:09:05. > :09:08.-- 45. Look at the shape of the wings.
:09:09. > :09:21.The legs are down. Fantastic. Hey! Apparently, he is really close now.
:09:22. > :09:27.I have been waiting ages to say this, but the eagle has landed! He
:09:28. > :09:34.reached 45 mph, by no means a top speed for a golden eagle. He was
:09:35. > :09:39.just cruising. Now it is time for the white tailed eagle.
:09:40. > :09:49.Oh, yeah. Much deeper strokes, broader wings. Completely different
:09:50. > :09:53.flight profile from the golden eagle. The thing is, it's a heavier
:09:54. > :09:57.bird but it has got a lower wing loading, so if you divide the wait
:09:58. > :10:03.by the surface area of the wing, it is much lower than the golden eagle
:10:04. > :10:09.which means they should be able to generate more lift in the same
:10:10. > :10:14.amount of wind. Look at that. He is really trying to find some lift now.
:10:15. > :10:22.Look at the tightness of the circles we have got, much tighter. She is
:10:23. > :10:26.following back as well, that air as it is going, she is following it
:10:27. > :10:33.along. We are cruising at a slower speed. The golden eagle was 20-30,
:10:34. > :10:39.whereas that seems to be 15-20, so it is much slower. Like the golden
:10:40. > :10:46.eagle, white tailed eagle is will often scavenge. They also hunt fish,
:10:47. > :10:57.so we have placed abate. -- some bait. Look, she is dropping. Off she
:10:58. > :11:01.goes. Yes! Fantastic. Carries it clean out of the pond on those
:11:02. > :11:11.massive wings. That is one powerful beak. What was the Macs? So we had a
:11:12. > :11:14.maximum of 55 mph. So to species with the same name which is sensibly
:11:15. > :11:20.look pretty similar but in fact, they behave and hunt in different
:11:21. > :11:23.ways, down to the shape of the body and the environment. Whatever way
:11:24. > :11:25.they use, it ensures they survive the winter.
:11:26. > :11:29.Now, there is a distinct difference. the winter.
:11:30. > :11:33.In the winter time, the white tailed eagle spends a lot more time
:11:34. > :11:38.scavenging. In the summer, it is feeding on fish and is taking live
:11:39. > :11:42.sea birds, but in the winter, it needs those big, broad wings so it
:11:43. > :11:46.can search over vast areas for carrion. The golden eagle, on the
:11:47. > :11:50.other hand, remains more of a predator through the winter. It will
:11:51. > :11:54.take 30% carrion but it is still after live animals and one thing
:11:55. > :11:57.that Steve Lee told us and we couldn't show in the film is that
:11:58. > :12:02.although conditions weren't that good for eagle flying for us, he has
:12:03. > :12:07.have them sweeping at speeds of 150 mph, making them as super predator.
:12:08. > :12:10.But what happens when an eagle super predator comes up against a
:12:11. > :12:15.mammalian equivalent, the Fox predator? Earlier in the week, we
:12:16. > :12:19.showed you this, because the remote camera has seen an eagle fighting a
:12:20. > :12:23.fox. And a bit later in the programme, we will show you which
:12:24. > :12:27.one of the two species prevail. From those two to another one, very
:12:28. > :12:30.attractive animal we have been lucky enough to see here this week and we
:12:31. > :12:35.have looked at some interesting science when it comes down to their
:12:36. > :12:41.caching. Yes, it has been amazing to watch them do the caching. What is
:12:42. > :12:45.it? It is when they pick up a food source and hide it to guarantee
:12:46. > :12:48.against the lean times but the way the team have managed to do it is
:12:49. > :12:55.amazing. It is known that pine martens will take eggs and they will
:12:56. > :13:02.cache them. Here is a special egg, not full of yolk and egg white, but
:13:03. > :13:06.electronics, a battery, a radio transmitter transmitting right now.
:13:07. > :13:10.So we have put the eggs into the tree, along came the pine martens
:13:11. > :13:15.and took them away and Chris and Michaela could track them down and
:13:16. > :13:20.find where they cached them. We can go live now to the tree, is there a
:13:21. > :13:27.pine marten? We put the eggs down in the bottom and up in the top. Two of
:13:28. > :13:32.the radio controlled eggs. That isn't right, not radio controlled.
:13:33. > :13:40.There is a mouse, always good to see. He makes it onto every camera,
:13:41. > :13:45.doesn't he! Now, up until the time we put those eggs out last night,
:13:46. > :13:49.nothing happened, it was really stormy. Nothing happened all day
:13:50. > :13:58.today and then at five minutes to seven tonight, he arrived. There is
:13:59. > :14:03.the pine marten coming in, takes the egg and hasn't finished, because at
:14:04. > :14:07.20 past seven, just a couple of hours ago, the pine marten came in
:14:08. > :14:13.again and watch this, watch the way it uses its tongue, its teeth and
:14:14. > :14:21.its jaw to gently manipulate that egg, pick it up and backwards it is
:14:22. > :14:26.going, doesn't drop it, get it down the tree without smashing it. It is
:14:27. > :14:32.slippery and wet, the tree. I wonder if it is the same pine marten or a
:14:33. > :14:36.different one? I would guess the same, it has learned that behaviour
:14:37. > :14:40.and it must be getting pretty egg bound by now, don't you think which
:14:41. > :14:43.Mark I hope it doesn't open those! And cashing in this weather is such
:14:44. > :14:53.a good idea, because an animal doesn't want to waste any energy
:14:54. > :14:57.coming out in the wet and rain -- caching. Why would it go and look
:14:58. > :15:01.for food if it can go to the store? Like you at home, if it is wet and
:15:02. > :15:05.rainy, you don't want to go to the supermarket, just to the fridge, so
:15:06. > :15:11.it is sensible. And they don't just cache eggs, look at this photograph
:15:12. > :15:16.that the ecologist here gave us. You can see a feather just sticking out
:15:17. > :15:22.of all of the moss and that actually is a Merlin check that the pine
:15:23. > :15:23.marten has caught and cached. A very rare bird, shame to see it like
:15:24. > :15:34.that. You might think pine marten wouldn't
:15:35. > :15:38.be used to a little chick but look at this. This is a grass of the
:15:39. > :15:44.calories of the various food sources. This is an egg.
:15:45. > :16:00.This is a bank vole. And this is a cheque. Because it has to stop
:16:01. > :16:02.metabolising. So a little chick is a very, very good meal and
:16:03. > :16:07.surprisingly much better than an egg. I suppose the egg is what
:16:08. > :16:12.happens before the check so I guess that makes sense. Yes, that is the
:16:13. > :16:18.mum and dad coming in. Can I tell you a story about caching? I have
:16:19. > :16:23.chickens, as you know, and a fox came in and it killed 11 of my
:16:24. > :16:27.chickens. Now, people always say, the fox comes in, just kills them
:16:28. > :16:31.for fun. Nonsense. I left the chicken carcasses out and the fox
:16:32. > :16:35.came back and it cached every single one of them so it could then come
:16:36. > :16:40.back and feed itself and its cubs, so they were just doing it for fun.
:16:41. > :16:48.It was very precise behaviour. At least they didn't go to waste,
:16:49. > :16:50.Martin! It was my favourite hen! Now, yesterday we were introduced to
:16:51. > :16:54.a very strange deer, the Chinese Now, yesterday we were introduced to
:16:55. > :17:01.water deer, with fangs. Tonight we find out what they get up to after
:17:02. > :17:05.dark. I mean Woodward and Fenn on the
:17:06. > :17:10.trial of the elusive Chinese water deer. -- I am in. Yesterday I was
:17:11. > :17:16.lucky enough to catch a brief glimpse of one of these bizarre and
:17:17. > :17:20.mysterious animals. But I've been told 90% of their activity happens
:17:21. > :17:30.at dusk. We've pinpointed a promising location for our hide. Now
:17:31. > :17:34.we must wait for night to fall. It's about an hour after dark and it
:17:35. > :17:40.really is pitch black out there, and I've come over to the hide, where
:17:41. > :17:44.Lindsay has a thermal imaging camera, and we are positioned so the
:17:45. > :17:48.wind is blowing into our faces, because in front of the hide is a
:17:49. > :17:52.clear area, and that's meant to be the best area for deer at dusk and
:17:53. > :17:56.after dark. It is dry at least but it's very windy and also remarkably
:17:57. > :18:03.warm considering it is December as well. Wow, wow! There is the deer.
:18:04. > :18:10.Probably about 200 metres away heading slowly away from us. They
:18:11. > :18:14.are such an odd animal. The back and looks a bit like a links
:18:15. > :18:16.are such an odd animal. The back and very, wrote a short tail, and
:18:17. > :18:20.are such an odd animal. The back and front-end looks like the
:18:21. > :18:26.are such an odd animal. The back and of Bambi and not to the vampire! A
:18:27. > :18:31.really weird-looking thing. They are really chunky. This is looking
:18:32. > :18:38.towards us as well. I can see the fur. And it is sticking with its
:18:39. > :18:45.feet, trying to get some nutrients, maybe some routes. Getting some
:18:46. > :18:49.fresh leaves. Having a bit a shake. When they graze, they can actually
:18:50. > :18:53.flask these tasks back, pull them back a bit, which makes it easier
:18:54. > :19:01.for them to grace the young vegetation. Primitive, yes, but
:19:02. > :19:06.nature has thought of everything. A sound in the distance and the Buck
:19:07. > :19:16.responds. He seems intent on proclaiming this meadow as his own.
:19:17. > :19:18.And like red deer which wound RNs, water deer box set or territories on
:19:19. > :19:25.good patches of grazing with the of boring in the dough at -- of
:19:26. > :19:36.clawing in the females. of boring in the dough at -- of
:19:37. > :19:46.the cold, frosty weather and then we will see some mating action.
:19:47. > :19:50.the cold, frosty weather and then we The buck looks nervous as something
:19:51. > :19:57.emerges from the reeds. It's only a fox but a good opportunity to see
:19:58. > :20:03.the size of this diminutive deer. Then, another male deer. Oh, look at
:20:04. > :20:08.that! That Then, another male deer. Oh, look at
:20:09. > :20:23.animals. One animal chasing another one. Wow! One has disappeared into
:20:24. > :20:26.the rushes and the other one is obviously the dominant one and he's
:20:27. > :20:35.turned around and is just walking away. And he's defecating, look. And
:20:36. > :20:39.what they do is defecate little and often all over their territory, and
:20:40. > :20:43.any other male coming in will know instantly this is occupied and there
:20:44. > :20:47.is already a resident buck here. I've only had a glimpse into the
:20:48. > :20:52.Chinese water deer's private life but it's been an enlightening one.
:20:53. > :20:58.It's a fascinating animal. It really is. And to be able to see it at
:20:59. > :21:06.night is just a privilege, really. And it is interesting because it is
:21:07. > :21:09.introduced. It doesn't belong here. But we know it doesn't have a
:21:10. > :21:15.detrimental affect on any of our native animals, and when you
:21:16. > :21:19.consider where it comes from, China and Korea, it's actually decreasing
:21:20. > :21:26.rapidly and the population we have here is incredibly important in an
:21:27. > :21:27.international sense. So maybe this is a species we should welcome with
:21:28. > :21:38.open arms. What an extraordinary animal that
:21:39. > :21:43.is! It looks like a cross between a Kangaroo, a hyena and a sheep! The
:21:44. > :21:49.rotting has been badly disrupted by this very mild weather we have. I
:21:50. > :21:52.say that. It is changing. The rut didn't go very well for them but
:21:53. > :21:59.that won't affect the overall numbers. There are about 7000-10,000
:22:00. > :22:04.of the Chinese water deer here in the UK. I had no idea there were so
:22:05. > :22:07.many. They are in five different counties confirmed and three other
:22:08. > :22:12.counties where they think they have them, including Somerset. I will be
:22:13. > :22:18.going out trying to see my first ever Chinese water deer. Chris, have
:22:19. > :22:23.you ever seen a Chinese water deer? Very sadly, Martin, I haven't. I did
:22:24. > :22:26.go out looking for them on one occasion but they didn't show up so
:22:27. > :22:33.it's an animal I have to tick off on my list, I have to say. Is the storm
:22:34. > :22:37.getting worse by any chance? It's blowing an absolute bailout here!
:22:38. > :22:42.One of the animals we've featured on this series is the eagle and
:22:43. > :22:48.particularly a pair of golden eagles. The male had a tag, 007, so
:22:49. > :22:57.he was called James Bond, and the female was named Feathers Galore on
:22:58. > :23:02.a Bond theme! Will show you what happened when one of this pair met a
:23:03. > :23:06.fox, another super predator, on a carcass.
:23:07. > :23:15.This is what happened. This stand-off. Look at that. Neither of
:23:16. > :23:20.them wants to get injured but both of them desperately want that
:23:21. > :23:26.carcass. The eagle is having a go with its talons. That could do a lot
:23:27. > :23:31.of damage. To the fox. And of course the fox, which is heavier than the
:23:32. > :23:36.female eagle, could do an equal amount of damage. That's where we
:23:37. > :23:41.left it last night. So who triumphed, Chris? Well, we asked
:23:42. > :23:47.you, the audience, what you thought. Would it be the equal of a fox? 80%
:23:48. > :23:53.said the evil and 20% said the fox. -- would it be the eagle all the
:23:54. > :24:00.fox? This is what happened. The eagle snatched the head and pulled
:24:01. > :24:07.it on top of it. After a short altercation the eagle flies off and
:24:08. > :24:10.the fox gets to the carcass. What an amazing piece of behaviour that was.
:24:11. > :24:16.There must be so much at stake for these animals grabbing at that
:24:17. > :24:22.carcass. I tell you what. That was so good. We must see that again.
:24:23. > :24:27.Let's see it again. Just watch this closely. The eagle which it out,
:24:28. > :24:32.grabbed the fox in the mouth, pulled it on top of it. This is a ten
:24:33. > :24:36.kilograms mammal on top of a potentially five kilograms bird. The
:24:37. > :24:45.eagle could break feathers, a wing bone. The fox could get eight halon
:24:46. > :24:54.in its eye. Either could get very injured. The fox needs to eat about
:24:55. > :24:59.3-5 kilos of meat a week to get through the winter. But the eagle,
:25:00. > :25:04.well, that carcass could last it for 40% of the entire winter period, so
:25:05. > :25:07.you can understand how pressured it is, and that's why they are so
:25:08. > :25:12.determined to protect it, but ultimately it was the fox that came
:25:13. > :25:18.out on top. Did that surprise you? Yes and no. The eagle, had had the
:25:19. > :25:23.advantage of surprise in the fox, may have been in a better place, but
:25:24. > :25:26.once it's on the ground, the fox is the heavy animal and I'm not
:25:27. > :25:35.surprised when it came to that's backed that it backed off. The
:25:36. > :25:40.action continued and this is the following day. The fox is behaving
:25:41. > :25:45.in a very different way. It's on the carcass and on the food but, look!
:25:46. > :25:50.Eagle comes and attacks. It comes from above and that's very dangerous
:25:51. > :25:54.for the fox. Then it's interesting what happens. The fox isn't being
:25:55. > :25:58.aggressive now. There's a bit of a stand-off and you can see it's a bit
:25:59. > :26:02.blurred with snow on the camera lens. But there's a stand-off
:26:03. > :26:07.between them and they decide it's not worth fighting for any more. The
:26:08. > :26:12.eagle knows that last time, the fox won and the fox turned its back on
:26:13. > :26:18.the eagle. The eagle flies away and the fox enjoys a jolly good meal. It
:26:19. > :26:26.is astonishing footage, that, isn't it? Absolutely. The reason 80% of
:26:27. > :26:36.you thought eagle would triumph is because they do actually feed on
:26:37. > :26:43.foxes. And the cameraman who gave up his time to film this said 4.3% of
:26:44. > :26:47.the eagle's diet is domestic dogs or foxes, but look at this. This is a
:26:48. > :26:53.photo David gave us and you can see our foxes in the foreground at his
:26:54. > :26:58.eagle's nest. If you look at the centre you can even see there's a
:26:59. > :27:03.tiny badger cub. But they are carbs and this means the five or six
:27:04. > :27:08.kilograms eagle could carry that to its nest but it couldn't carry an
:27:09. > :27:14.adult fox. The adult fox is about ten kilograms. It would maybe attack
:27:15. > :27:21.the fox and possibly kill it difficult it by surprise but it
:27:22. > :27:25.would have to eat it where it was. Some people have missed the footage
:27:26. > :27:27.because the storm is cutting out or breaking up our satellite
:27:28. > :27:33.transmitter a bit so we do apologise for that and we hope it gets put up.
:27:34. > :27:41.Maybe they can catch it on the web later. Is those eagles were up here,
:27:42. > :27:44.they would find the remains of a mountain hare, because that is one
:27:45. > :27:49.of the main items of prey they catch. And a brilliant animal. We
:27:50. > :27:54.seen a lot of it on this Winterwatch and it's a real treat when you see
:27:55. > :27:58.it in the wild. So you might be quite surprised to know that nobody
:27:59. > :28:06.really knows quite how many there are living up on the mountains.
:28:07. > :28:13.The Cairngorms provide a perfect habitat for mountain hares. And yet
:28:14. > :28:22.the last census suggests numbers have declined a staggering 43%
:28:23. > :28:25.between 1995 and 2013. The problem for ecologists studying this native
:28:26. > :28:32.species is obtaining accurate numbers. Doctor Scott Newey from the
:28:33. > :28:38.James Hudson Institute is trying to get to grips with this surprisingly
:28:39. > :28:44.rare mammal. Do you have any idea of population numbers? I don't think we
:28:45. > :28:51.have a very good idea. An estimate in 95 suggested there were a few
:28:52. > :29:00.hundred in the UK but the estimate was plus or -50%. -- several hundred
:29:01. > :29:04.thousand. Some people are concerned there is an overall decline in the
:29:05. > :29:08.population of mountain hares in Scotland. What would have caused
:29:09. > :29:14.that? We can speculate but there is a land-use change. The moorlands are
:29:15. > :29:17.being lost and sometimes deforestation. Certainly in some
:29:18. > :29:24.areas it appears the numbers are being deliberately reduced for tick
:29:25. > :29:28.control to benefit grouse. This is a virus which can have devastating
:29:29. > :29:34.effects on red grouse and it is carried on the tick on the mountain
:29:35. > :29:39.hares. -- the tick is carried on the mountain hares. However, we need to
:29:40. > :29:42.remember mountain hares or a traditional game species and they
:29:43. > :29:46.have been hunted for hundreds of years for sport and recreation, and
:29:47. > :29:50.sometimes mountain hares can be very numerous locally and there might be
:29:51. > :29:55.reasons why the numbers need to be reduced. So it seems crazy to me
:29:56. > :29:59.that there is management of mountain hares in place before anybody really
:30:00. > :30:04.knows the population numbers or the science.
:30:05. > :30:09.But counting this secretive species in this tough to rain is a real
:30:10. > :30:12.challenge. Scott is currently involved in a trial that aims to
:30:13. > :30:19.find the most effective way of counting the mountain hare. His
:30:20. > :30:23.technique involves trapping hares, marking them, releasing them and
:30:24. > :30:28.then seeing how many marked hares are caught again. This method
:30:29. > :30:35.results in strong, reliable data but is very labour intensive.
:30:36. > :30:43.Scott is working with Doctor Cathy Pletcher from the game and wildlife
:30:44. > :30:46.conservation trust. He is using another technique, which means going
:30:47. > :30:57.on a night hike. We are just going to hope for the best! It is cold,
:30:58. > :31:01.but it is not dark! Hopefully, it will be dark soon. Obviously we are
:31:02. > :31:05.doing this in the dark because they are nocturnal. In the day, they lie
:31:06. > :31:09.in the long heather but at night, they move around and look for food.
:31:10. > :31:14.So we basically shine these lamps and look for them? Yes, we have the
:31:15. > :31:20.straight lines, the GPS and the paperwork and we start on that and
:31:21. > :31:24.swing the light and both watch the beam and hopefully we will spot some
:31:25. > :31:32.hares. I don't know how much looking I am doing, I am looking more at my
:31:33. > :31:40.feet. So how far do we have to walk? Well these are two kilometres and
:31:41. > :31:48.then we go to the next one, two kilometres and back again. Oh, look,
:31:49. > :31:59.I grouse. What a grouse. I should come out at night more often! There
:32:00. > :32:04.is a mountain hare up there. Oh, yes, fantastic, we have got one. You
:32:05. > :32:09.can see its eyes shining back really clearly. Yes, hares have a read a
:32:10. > :32:14.high shine and they are a different colour to if you seek the sheep or a
:32:15. > :32:20.goat out on the hill. The rain doesn't seem to matter. We can do
:32:21. > :32:24.the surveys in the rain as long as there is good visibility. Cathy
:32:25. > :32:30.plots each site using GPS so she can later totally cup -- calculate the
:32:31. > :32:36.total number of hares in each square kilometre. Is that another one? It
:32:37. > :32:42.is a bit closer, see you can see the long nice ears. It is going on to
:32:43. > :32:47.the Heather, that is a great view. You can see its shape really
:32:48. > :32:52.clearly. If only they were all standing out so beautifully it would
:32:53. > :32:57.be easier to count them. When will you finish your population
:32:58. > :33:02.survey? We have another winter survey season to go, so we will
:33:03. > :33:07.finish, hopefully, summer 2017, we will be reporting back. And if you
:33:08. > :33:12.find there are far fewer than you estimated, I presume that will
:33:13. > :33:16.affect the management of them? Yes, when we find a robust, reliable
:33:17. > :33:20.method of counting, we can roll that out across various areas of Scotland
:33:21. > :33:21.and get a really good handle and that will feed into management plans
:33:22. > :33:39.for the estate. It is obviously a very risky
:33:40. > :33:42.business to manage and cull an animal when you don't know how many
:33:43. > :33:46.there are, but you have to feel sorry for the mountain hare is, they
:33:47. > :33:50.turn white to camouflage with the snow but then it snows and then
:33:51. > :33:54.melts and when the snowmelt, they really stick out and it is really
:33:55. > :34:04.easy for predators to get them and when it melts, it is a really bad
:34:05. > :34:06.hare day! That is a bad hair day! We have had to come in because it has
:34:07. > :34:13.become totally wild have had to come in because it has
:34:14. > :34:19.left one of our cameramen out, Paulo chap, and that is what is going on
:34:20. > :34:25.outside -- poor chap. Let's go to the pine marten camera live... It is
:34:26. > :34:29.not quite live, 20 seconds ago, the pine marten was on the bird feeder
:34:30. > :34:35.in the storm. It wasn't cowed by it, it has been out feeding, trying to
:34:36. > :34:41.get the peanuts out of the little bird feeder. Let's go around to the
:34:42. > :34:50.hare cam. Any other live cameras out there? There is the hare cam. I
:34:51. > :34:55.would be surprised to see a hare in this storm, I was surprised to see
:34:56. > :34:59.the pine marten. They have got to be out there, they have no choice, they
:35:00. > :35:04.can't come in and watch the telly. They could shelter a little bit,
:35:05. > :35:10.couldn't they? I am pleased we are in, I have a very soggy backside. I
:35:11. > :35:18.mean Gary Lineker on Match of the Day, he never works with a soggy
:35:19. > :35:24.backside, Dom on Gardner's World, he never has a soggy backside, you have
:35:25. > :35:28.to persevere. We have an audience question from Kate Starkey on
:35:29. > :35:32.Twitter, changing the subject completely, she says there must be
:35:33. > :35:41.200 seagulls in my field doing battle with crows for sheep feed.
:35:42. > :35:48.Why the gulls so far inland? Well, the gulls on the coast are in
:35:49. > :35:51.decline. They are amber listed, some of the kittiwakes have not
:35:52. > :35:54.successfully reared young for some time because overfishing in the
:35:55. > :35:58.past, although we have a handle on that, and also a change in water
:35:59. > :36:01.temperature due to climate change means there isn't the food
:36:02. > :36:04.available. They are not finding food on the coast and as a consequence,
:36:05. > :36:09.many of the gull species have come inland. They have and it is
:36:10. > :36:13.noticeable, they disappear from the coast in winter and we sent David
:36:14. > :36:18.out to try and find out what is going on.
:36:19. > :36:29.It is dawn and fans of gulls are starting their day by heading for a
:36:30. > :36:39.landfill site on the outskirts of London. OK, so this isn't
:36:40. > :36:44.everybody's idea of a natural wildlife paradise, but during the
:36:45. > :36:51.winter, this place is key to the survival of our urban gulls.
:36:52. > :37:00.In Britain, we dump around 13 million tonnes of household waste
:37:01. > :37:07.every day. The gulls know just where to come for an all-you-can-eat
:37:08. > :37:11.buffets. -- parfait. I know this is a landfill site but I have to tell
:37:12. > :37:16.you, it is absolutely amazing here. The ground shakes whenever they
:37:17. > :37:23.heavy machinery passes by, the smell... Is indescribable. But the
:37:24. > :37:28.me, the most beautiful thing for me about this ugly place are the birds.
:37:29. > :37:33.The gulls are incredible, just look at them. This place is bred for an
:37:34. > :37:37.urban naturalist, there is just so much going on and there are plenty
:37:38. > :37:44.of species to pick out -- this place is brilliant. The largest, the great
:37:45. > :37:53.black back gull. Then the greyback wearing gulls and the much smaller
:37:54. > :37:59.gulls -- herrung gulls. Some of them are getting their plumage, an
:38:00. > :38:04.indicator of the mild weather we have been having recently. But as a
:38:05. > :38:08.bird, I am looking through this lot thinking I might find something
:38:09. > :38:17.slightly rarer. We are looking for the Iceland gull and another that
:38:18. > :38:23.has come from the Arctic, they both superficially look like herring
:38:24. > :38:27.gulls and one or two might superficially be found amongst the
:38:28. > :38:33.gulls here. Amazing to think that this place can attract birds from so
:38:34. > :38:38.far away. Gulls are not everyone's cup of tea, but naturalist Peter
:38:39. > :38:43.loves them so much that he has bought a flat overlooking this
:38:44. > :38:49.winter hotspot. Giving him a unique perspective on this seasonal
:38:50. > :38:52.phenomenon. It mostly amazing for you, Peter, to have all this on your
:38:53. > :38:56.doorstep. This that likes a lot of birds to me but how does this
:38:57. > :39:02.compare with previous years? There are less birds this year. In a
:39:03. > :39:06.really cold winter, we can have up to 25,000 gulls or so. We have a
:39:07. > :39:12.ringing scheme in place and we know some birds come from Lithuania, some
:39:13. > :39:16.from Estonia, Poland, the Ukraine. So literally, gulls here are coming
:39:17. > :39:23.from all over Europe and sometimes even beyond. If it gets really cold,
:39:24. > :39:25.we tend to get larger numbers of Iceland gulls, coming down from the
:39:26. > :39:30.north if there is a big Arctic blast. We haven't had any of that
:39:31. > :39:36.weather so we have seen only one or two Iceland gulls so far. By early
:39:37. > :39:40.afternoon, many of the gulls have gorged themselves and are ready to
:39:41. > :39:45.move onto their next part of day. They are heading to a lake just next
:39:46. > :39:52.door, which the management company is restoring for wildlife. So the
:39:53. > :39:55.gulls are gathered here in what we call their pre-roost. They are
:39:56. > :40:07.getting ready, getting washed, getting changed almost. I have found
:40:08. > :40:11.and Iceland gull, it is the first winter bird, it is not quite a white
:40:12. > :40:16.winger but you can see the lovely biscuit colours. Despite its name,
:40:17. > :40:20.this bird has flown not from Iceland but from Greenland, around 1,500
:40:21. > :40:28.miles away. Fewer than 200 have been recorded in the UK this winter, so
:40:29. > :40:32.this is a real treat. Fantastic looking thing. Once the gulls have
:40:33. > :40:38.spruced up, they are set for the final move of the day.
:40:39. > :40:46.On the banks of the Thames, a series of huge reservoirs. Growing numbers
:40:47. > :40:56.of gulls are appearing on the horizon. So the sun is about to set
:40:57. > :41:00.and the gulls are coming from all different directions. It is
:41:01. > :41:05.fascinating to think that gulls can travel up to 40 miles to get to
:41:06. > :41:09.their roost site and they love vast expanses of water. There is a bunch
:41:10. > :41:12.here, must be about 200 birds, just on the edge here and in this general
:41:13. > :41:19.facility, there must be several thousand already. It is quite a
:41:20. > :41:22.sight and proof that over the course of the day, urban gulls use our
:41:23. > :41:29.man-made landscape to meet their every need. Isn't it great that we
:41:30. > :41:33.provide them with lunch at a landfill site and then somewhere to
:41:34. > :41:34.rest their heads and have a good night's sleep in the shape of a
:41:35. > :41:52.reservoir? Fascinating stuff, but those huge
:41:53. > :41:57.flocks of gulls on tips like that may soon become a thing of the past
:41:58. > :42:00.because as our habits change, we recycle more and more waste, there
:42:01. > :42:05.is less and less food for the gulls on landfill sites like that and it
:42:06. > :42:07.does seem, the latest research, that the number of inland gulls like that
:42:08. > :42:10.is starting to decline. the number of inland gulls like that
:42:11. > :42:16.good if they are declining on the coast and inland. If you think,
:42:17. > :42:19.gulls ar ubiquitous, they are all over the place but in fact, they are
:42:20. > :42:22.in trouble. Now, all week, we have been testing
:42:23. > :42:27.the intelligence and memory of our resident rodents by putting food in
:42:28. > :42:32.a maze and just like the gulls you saw in David's film, they have
:42:33. > :42:35.learned they get free saw in David's film, they have
:42:36. > :42:40.landfill site, our mice have learned they get free food in the maze and
:42:41. > :42:44.every night, we have put out a more complicated maze. This is the one we
:42:45. > :42:46.put out last night, it is extremely complicated and this is
:42:47. > :42:47.put out last night, it is extremely happened when a mouse made its first
:42:48. > :42:54.attempt to solve the maze. We have happened when a mouse made its first
:42:55. > :42:58.made this into a little Pac man, and anyone my age and above will
:42:59. > :43:01.remember that, simple computer game in the 1980s,
:43:02. > :43:08.remember that, simple computer game eat all the little circles, the
:43:09. > :43:13.gulls. We wanted to know how much of the maze the mouse explores before
:43:14. > :43:15.it manages to find the notes. Well, you
:43:16. > :43:20.it manages to find the notes. Well, deal of it. This is the first time
:43:21. > :43:22.it manages to find the notes. Well, it has ever been in the more
:43:23. > :43:28.complicated maze. Will it get them all? It is doing a good job so far.
:43:29. > :43:37.What is amazing is this is a bit of fun but it is revealing some amazing
:43:38. > :43:41.science. If this was Pac-Man, it would go up to the next level.
:43:42. > :43:44.Obviously, it takes the mouse quite some time, you can see we have
:43:45. > :43:49.speeded this up, but it is going into every little knock and cranny.
:43:50. > :43:55.It has already been there but it is having another little check. Go on,
:43:56. > :44:01.get them all! Look at that. And finally, every single bit of the
:44:02. > :44:08.maze. We would never have known it explored the entire maze without the
:44:09. > :44:11.maze. We would never have known it dots. Fantastic. Now, it
:44:12. > :44:13.maze. We would never have known it mez three minutes to do that
:44:14. > :44:18.exploration, but look what happened once it got the hang of it -- it
:44:19. > :44:27.took that mouse. Here it goes in, look how fast. Unbelievable, from
:44:28. > :44:30.three minutes to seven seconds and now it selects the biggest and the
:44:31. > :44:35.best, the juiciest peanut, before it goes out. It is actually weighing
:44:36. > :44:42.them to choose the biggest, the biggest reward. Out it goes. It is
:44:43. > :44:46.completely locked into that maze now, it can remember. Remember, this
:44:47. > :44:52.is all happening in the pitch darkness. How many attempts did it
:44:53. > :44:58.take to get from a long time to seven seconds? 12 attempts. From
:44:59. > :45:01.three minutes to seven seconds. Time for our graph, I feel. Oh, dear.
:45:02. > :45:20.results in strong, reliable data but is very labour intensive.
:45:21. > :45:27.This is interesting, I think, because it shows the errors it made.
:45:28. > :45:32.But if I draw a line to average these out, we see it comes down
:45:33. > :45:37.pretty quickly like that, so that by the time it has made eight or nine
:45:38. > :45:41.attempts it is making fewer than ten errors every attempt. We couldn't
:45:42. > :45:45.explain these spikes except that could be a couple of different mice
:45:46. > :45:52.coming in. OK, so that's the mouse, is going into the maze, is finding
:45:53. > :45:55.the nuts, and what does this mean mentally? The mouse is exercising
:45:56. > :45:59.its working memory and working memory is a type of short-term
:46:00. > :46:04.memory. It is like us remembering a phone number or a grocery list. And
:46:05. > :46:08.what happens is, the more you exercise that memory, it becomes
:46:09. > :46:11.stuck in your mind and you can remember it. What's even more
:46:12. > :46:17.interesting is that if you continue to exercise that working memory, you
:46:18. > :46:21.actually become more intelligent. It can be interrupted. Scientists have
:46:22. > :46:24.performed similar tests where halfway through solving the maze,
:46:25. > :46:28.they take the mice out, and then they expose them to visual or
:46:29. > :46:32.auditory distractions, like taking a mouse to a rock concert or something
:46:33. > :46:36.like that! That didn't happen, probably! But I would have done that
:46:37. > :46:41.before I been the scientist! But the interesting thing is, once it has
:46:42. > :46:45.learned it it remembers it for a lifetime, and then if they test
:46:46. > :46:49.those mice with other cognitive tests, they are considerably more
:46:50. > :46:57.intelligent, so we've come along, we fed the mouse and we've improved its
:46:58. > :47:10.level of intelligence. We've turned it into a mouse -mastermind!
:47:11. > :47:13.Basically, the vole went into the maze and gave up because it couldn't
:47:14. > :47:20.find it, bubbly because it didn't have long enough whiskers. Well, our
:47:21. > :47:23.mouse wasn't content with being a superstar of the Mouse Maze camera.
:47:24. > :47:28.It appeared on every other camera as well. Have a look at this. This is
:47:29. > :47:33.our pine marten live camera. It skips through but if we slowed down,
:47:34. > :47:39.have a look. Look, it has the knot in his mouth! So it has to be the
:47:40. > :47:43.mouse that came from the maze! And the same mouse runs through the
:47:44. > :47:47.shocked and this is our bird feeder. There's the mountain hare and it is
:47:48. > :47:51.skipping around the mountain hare on the mountain hare camp. Where's it
:47:52. > :47:56.gone? There we go, is looking very pleased for itself. It's found a
:47:57. > :48:01.pedestal and it comes back to the mountain hare camp, where we've put
:48:02. > :48:06.some apples. It has a sniff and thinks, ooh, do I fancy a bit? I do!
:48:07. > :48:13.I'm going to carry that huge piece off! Isn't that amazing? We do do
:48:14. > :48:17.some anthropomorphism on this channel but that's more Disney
:48:18. > :48:27.Channel! That's the net -- it's no way that the same mouse! Really?!
:48:28. > :48:37.Lunar is the same mouse. It's Michaela's mouse! That's our
:48:38. > :48:41.mouse-mastermind! Very cute! You may have noticed this time of year in
:48:42. > :48:45.your garden, you get more and more birds coming in to feed on the bird
:48:46. > :48:49.tables, and that's given cameraman Mark a good excuse to pick up his
:48:50. > :48:51.camera and all of his kitchen utensils and get out in the garden
:48:52. > :49:05.to film them! The garden is a very special place
:49:06. > :49:10.for me, particularly as I travel a lot. Every year I never know quite
:49:11. > :49:18.where I'm going to go but it's a place I always love coming back to.
:49:19. > :49:21.Garden birds for me are particularly special because it's the first
:49:22. > :49:26.contact I have with wildlife when I was young.
:49:27. > :49:36.You can see them really closely from far away so they will behave
:49:37. > :49:45.naturally. The bird table tea party idea was an idea to create some fun.
:49:46. > :49:56.But also to help show how agile they are when they are perching. They are
:49:57. > :50:06.hovering and trying to land on moving, spinning teacups hanging on
:50:07. > :50:11.a wire. Even though one Blu-Tack might look the same as any other,
:50:12. > :50:17.after a time you get to know which one is bolder, more aggressive. --
:50:18. > :50:25.loot it. Without doubt, they all seem to have personalities. -- loot
:50:26. > :50:28.it. Every so often a woodpecker would appear and you know is there
:50:29. > :50:36.because the other birds would just scatter. There's a lot of dynamics
:50:37. > :50:43.going on which are fascinating. Little soap opera is playing out. --
:50:44. > :50:50.soap operas. I always know when a long-tailed
:50:51. > :50:51.tipped is in the air because you can hear them calling from quite far
:50:52. > :51:04.away. Long-tailed tits are very special
:51:05. > :51:09.for me because when I was really little and first saw one I was just
:51:10. > :51:13.blown away by them. They are very delicate but very pretty in their
:51:14. > :51:19.colours. And they are full of energy and full of personality. They are
:51:20. > :51:33.very acrobatic. They have a charm to them as well which I find wonderful.
:51:34. > :51:39.In January you hear the garden birds, they switch from their
:51:40. > :51:50.survival feeding mode to looking ahead into spring.
:51:51. > :51:54.Singing and marking their territories, reinforcing them and
:51:55. > :52:05.looking to pair up with their mate for spring.
:52:06. > :52:17.The great thing about garden birds is anyone can set up a bird table, a
:52:18. > :52:20.feeder, and get them coming to their home and get pleasure out of
:52:21. > :52:30.watching them, and you never know what's going to turn up either.
:52:31. > :52:38.I have been totally inspired by those crockery bird feeders. I
:52:39. > :52:44.particularly love the merry-go-round cup. Don't you, Chris? No! This
:52:45. > :52:51.mishmash and flotsam of crockery dangling in my garden! Beautiful
:52:52. > :52:55.shots. Thank you, mate, but don't decorate my garden! I thought it was
:52:56. > :52:59.very pretty, very sweet. Another thing that happens this time of year
:53:00. > :53:03.is that different species of birds gathered together in large flocks,
:53:04. > :53:08.and we've seen this in a local farmer's field here. There's a huge
:53:09. > :53:13.flock of chaffinches but also mixed in our branding is. They look very
:53:14. > :53:17.like chaffinches but they look like they've been through the wash and
:53:18. > :53:22.the colour has been washed out! Lookout for them because they come
:53:23. > :53:29.in yet but they died come into your bird table. -- they might come. If
:53:30. > :53:46.you see a bird that looks like a chaffinch it might be a bramling. Go
:53:47. > :53:52.onto our website to find out the details that we have had from the
:53:53. > :53:55.RSPB. Here's a handy ID guide. Just takes an hour of your
:53:56. > :53:58.RSPB. Here's a handy ID guide. Just stage over the weekend. All you have
:53:59. > :54:01.to do is stand there, hopefully with young people if you've got them, and
:54:02. > :54:05.count young people if you've got them, and
:54:06. > :54:07.individuals. And if you are going to do that, you might want to know what
:54:08. > :54:12.the weather is going to look like. do that, you might want to know what
:54:13. > :54:15.You can do that from inside looking out of the window but the weather
:54:16. > :54:20.will affect the birds, so is this weird weather going to continue? You
:54:21. > :54:27.two can't answer! But there is a man who can. Nick Miller!
:54:28. > :54:33.Storm Gertrude, I don't know who will win, but Storm Gertrude is
:54:34. > :54:37.moving away and as it does so, cold air starting to moving over the UK
:54:38. > :54:42.just in time for the start of the weekend with even some blizzards in
:54:43. > :54:46.Scotland. But by Sunday, milder air surging north again with more rain,
:54:47. > :54:49.so another big swing this weekend, and that's why our wildlife doesn't
:54:50. > :54:55.know whether it's coming or going. So if you are looking for the birds,
:54:56. > :54:59.the Robin is there whatever the weather, but colder weather can
:55:00. > :55:04.bring ventures into the garden so look out for a goldfinch like this.
:55:05. > :55:12.Look up into the conifers and you could see a cult hit or the tiny
:55:13. > :55:24.goldcrest. Don't miss it. -- Carl tit. This photo suggesting something
:55:25. > :55:27.we knew already, the weather is milder and wetter. Big swings with
:55:28. > :55:33.temperatures milder and wetter. Big swings with
:55:34. > :55:38.degrees. This is day one on Monday. Low pressure close by and still
:55:39. > :55:45.windy. We are expecting changeable spells by February but possibly
:55:46. > :55:51.longer, cold spells. That's really bad news for any animals which
:55:52. > :55:55.haven't hibernated yet, like the hedgehog, as if it's life isn't bad
:55:56. > :56:01.enough already! And because I know you love into weather so much, I
:56:02. > :56:03.found more snow in the Cairngorms live for this
:56:04. > :56:14.found more snow in the Cairngorms log on the fire and consider it my
:56:15. > :56:18.gift to you! Thanks, Nick(!) Very sadly that's all we've got time
:56:19. > :56:20.gift to you! Thanks, Nick(!) Very We hope that over the course of the
:56:21. > :56:23.week we've been able to explain some of the impact this weird winter has
:56:24. > :56:28.had on our wildlife but we couldn't have done it without a great dinner
:56:29. > :56:31.help, so I'd like to thank all the staff here at the lodge whose been
:56:32. > :56:36.fantastic. And all of our contributors and guests without whom
:56:37. > :56:40.we couldn't have done it. And for you for watching. Don't forget to
:56:41. > :56:44.keep checking the website. There are constant updates. And join the
:56:45. > :56:51.conversation on social media. We would love to hear from you. And
:56:52. > :56:58.then we have Unsprung straight after this online and on the Red Button.
:56:59. > :57:03.We will be back for Springwatch this Easter. We will leave you with some
:57:04. > :57:09.of our finest pictures from this winter. Goodbye!
:57:10. > :57:30.What an extraordinary winter! What unprecedented weather!
:57:31. > :57:45.These are hard, hard times at here and wild and very wonderful.
:57:46. > :58:06.No wonder they call him that! He's taken his clothes off!
:58:07. > :58:15.There's no doubt at all they are very, very beautiful, very special
:58:16. > :58:17.birds. I know there's going to be sitting rooms all over the country
:58:18. > :59:01.going" aah"! Eight famous pensioners are looking
:59:02. > :59:05.to retire to an exotic land... I had never thought about India
:59:06. > :59:09.but...maybe. ..enjoying the fantastic local
:59:10. > :59:13.cultures... Ooh!